The O300 does look like a good idea, especially since I'll be moving soon to a place with an unfinished basement. And for me, unfinished basement = nag-free workshop. No more "does this really have to be here?" from the wife!

You all mentioned using the O2 as a frontend. Does MIPSPro have a distributed compilation function similar to distcc?

smj wrote:You can of course add a supported PCI/PCI-X controller, as jan-jaap did with his Origin 350 - see details in this thread.

Unless you want to use an external SAS/SATA enclosure and suitable LSI card, you'll need a second O300 though. The first one has the SCSI backplane + system disk, the second the SATA disk(s).

Best excuse ever to get a second O300

Now this is a deep dark secret, so everybody keep it quiet It turns out that when reset, the WD33C93 defaults to a SCSI ID of 0, and it was simpler to leave it that way... -- Dave Olson, in comp.sys.sgiCurrently in commercial service: (2x) In the museum: almost every MIPS/IRIX system.Wanted: GM1 board for Professional Series GT graphics (030-0076-003, 030-0076-004)

jan-jaap wrote:Unless you want to use an external SAS/SATA enclosure and suitable LSI card, you'll need a second O300 though. The first one has the SCSI backplane + system disk, the second the SATA disk(s).

Best excuse ever to get a second O300

Of course everyone should have two O300's ! ... but it's possible to start with one. You pull the SCSI disk backplane out, one or two screws at most. The cable that connects it to the IO8 has a 68 pin connector on the end. Set the scsi id on a 68-pin disk and use that for a boot drive in the bottom tray. Stick an LSI SATA card in a pci slot (one is faster than the other but I forget which) and finagle the cable around inside to connect to a disk in the top tray. Close the lid and go put a band-aid on your cut fingers. The advantage to this is that you can use the same boot disk as a Fuel : they will transfer straight across. Haven't tried that in an O350 but it might work as well. I'd bet a quarter that a drive with IFF installed would transfer happily into a Fuel, too. Someone with stuttering initials might give that a try ....

dclough, it's not exactly a "front end - back end" situation. You are just using the O2 as a very smart X-Window terminal. Old-fashioned but very effective. And I wouldn't worry about distributed making .. the O2 has enough trouble just drawing its own window, it's not going to be contributing anything to the compile process. They are a very cute computer but they don't exactly wear the World Champion Processor Power pasties

There's a thread here about replacing the fan with a Noctua. Do it now, do it early, enjoy the silence right away. It's a gooood upgrade !

dclough wrote:Just searched it, found the fan and ordered one. Great suggestion!

And yes, I think the O300 will be next in line on my list of SGI needs (okay, "wants"), once I get a suitable rack and environment to run it in.

While it doesn't come with the pretty skins and feet that an O200 did, an O300 is perfectly happy outside of the rack environment. If you're careful to scare away the dust bunnies and blow out the dust every month or two it can even go on the floor under your desk or bed (though the bed might not be a good idea if you're planning on sleeping there).

Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!

There are those who say I'm a bit of a curmudgeon. To them I reply: "GET OFF MY LAWN!"

SAQ wrote:While it doesn't come with the pretty skins and feet that an O200 did, an O300 is perfectly happy outside of the rack environment. If you're careful to scare away the dust bunnies and blow out the dust every month or two it can even go on the floor under your desk or bed (though the bed might not be a good idea if you're planning on sleeping there).

Now this is a deep dark secret, so everybody keep it quiet It turns out that when reset, the WD33C93 defaults to a SCSI ID of 0, and it was simpler to leave it that way... -- Dave Olson, in comp.sys.sgiCurrently in commercial service: (2x) In the museum: almost every MIPS/IRIX system.Wanted: GM1 board for Professional Series GT graphics (030-0076-003, 030-0076-004)

Yes indeed - I am currently using the Enterprise Edition for my home servers. There's an HP DL140 G3 and external 1U SANS Digital 4-bay SATA drive enclosure on the lower shelf, and O300 system sitting on the top deck. Just to demonstrate the load capacity of the Enterprise Edition, I have a pair of old Intel ISP1100s and a pair of Supermicro 6013 servers stacked atop the O300.

Yes indeed - I am currently using the Enterprise Edition for my home servers. There's an HP DL140 G3 and external 1U SANS Digital 4-bay SATA drive enclosure on the lower shelf, and O300 system sitting on the top deck. Just to demonstrate the load capacity of the Enterprise Edition, I have a pair of old Intel ISP1100s and a pair of Supermicro 6013 servers stacked atop the O300.

Looks Velly Interestink - what sort of rails do you need for them, or will any rail work?

Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!

There are those who say I'm a bit of a curmudgeon. To them I reply: "GET OFF MY LAWN!"

jan-jaap wrote:Hmmm, LackRack! For an O300 (66cm deep), you may need the Enterprise Edition. Pics of a LackRack-ed Tezro setup will follow shortly (I'm a snob, I used the Lack side table on wheels)

smj wrote:Yes indeed - I am currently using the Enterprise Edition for my home servers. There's an HP DL140 G3 and external 1U SANS Digital 4-bay SATA drive enclosure on the lower shelf, and O300 system sitting on the top deck. Just to demonstrate the load capacity of the Enterprise Edition, I have a pair of old Intel ISP1100s and a pair of Supermicro 6013 servers stacked atop the O300.

Pretty slick, especially since they're only 10 us bucks (if you want to run some rack hardware in the living room they're very cost-efficient - you'd usually have to spend way more than that to really piss off the female in your life).

Now if there was only a Swedish-knock-down-furniture store less than a full day round trip (one of the few short comings of living in BFE).

Somebody with an IKEA nearby could make a pretty penny buying these locally and selling to buyers around the US for cost + shipping + a little something extra to make it worth their while. I'd love to get my hands on a black enterprise edition and certainly would if it weren't for the 380+ mile drive.

dclough wrote:Somebody with an IKEA nearby could make a pretty penny buying these locally and selling to buyers around the US

Well I'm close, but you might not love S&H from California...

recondas wrote:you'd usually have to spend way more than that to really piss off the female in your life

SAQ wrote:what sort of rails do you need for them, or will any rail work?

I suspect most people either just stack things, or screw the rack ears on lighter gear directly into the table legs. But I know you can get pre-drilled strips with 10/32 taps at standard rack spacing, and those could be mounted to the legs... I'll go grab a photo or two.

Last edited by smj on Mon Mar 26, 2012 7:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

It looks like Amazon is the best source for the Lack EE. Unfortunately it's a bit steep ($50) for such a minimalist coffee table, so I'd much rather grab some lumber and roll up my sleeves, or just buy a cheap used half-height rack once my equipment load hits a certain point.

I just got X11 forwarding set up between my Mac and O2, and it's zippy as hell working with swmgr and some other essential apps that were previously very painful to deal with. Even Netscape runs decently. I've noticed that some GTK apps absolutely refuse to forward to my remote display, though, so that's a minor inconvenience for now.

How rare is a quad-CPU O300? What kind of price range should I be looking for? Excluding those ridiculous extortionate eBay sellers, of course.

SAQ wrote:what sort of rails do you need for them, or will any rail work?

I suspect most people either just stack things, or screw the rack ears on lighter gear directly into the table legs. But I know you can get pre-drilled strips with 10/32 taps at standard rack spacing, and those could be mounted to the legs... I'll go grab a photo or two.

No space for rails, the equipment fits *just* between the table legs. Beware that the legs are hollow, so you need cavity plugs. Here's my 'lack' side table:

The wheels are definitely a bonus. The PowerVault won't slide in completely until I drill some holes for the mounting screws. I have to mount the ears to the DMediaPro breakout box. There's not enough space left for a Lucid ADA 8824

I'm quite happy with the lack hack. And it makes the Onyx2 look small

Now this is a deep dark secret, so everybody keep it quiet It turns out that when reset, the WD33C93 defaults to a SCSI ID of 0, and it was simpler to leave it that way... -- Dave Olson, in comp.sys.sgiCurrently in commercial service: (2x) In the museum: almost every MIPS/IRIX system.Wanted: GM1 board for Professional Series GT graphics (030-0076-003, 030-0076-004)